Empathy - Kiwi test

Post Reply New Topic

Because you hear him hit the bottom.

The video isn't about him killing himself. It's about pursuing your dreams no matter the cost. I don't see the connection with autism, either but I liked the video.

I just saw a little guy wanting something he could never have.

But he achieved it. I think the tear is evidence of that. He closes his eyes to fully experience it and is completely in that moment because he finally achieved his goal.

Was boring at the start, but yes, I did feel emotional when I worked out what he was doing.

Didn't hear that part.

Yeah, that's what I figured when I saw your post. It's quiet and at the end just after it goes black.

What I find fascinating is that many people are so emotionally bothered by the fact that the bird died at the end that they have gone ahead and insisted that he survived somehow. Like the thud at the end was really his parachute opening. Someone even made an alternate ending video that you can see on the youtube related video sidebar. Also when you read people's comments, there is pretty clear evidence that it affects certain types of people so strongly that they simply cannot - no, must not accept the bird's death. This, of course, ruins the entire premise of the video, as the sacrifice is removed, and thus much of the "high stakes" of what the kiwi is willing to do to give to achieve his life's goal is lost. But its a fascinating study in human reaction I think.

I still find it interesting that from who I've asked so far, AS people "get it" much more easily than NT people.
And when the NT people get it they don't necessarily see why its emotionally moving.

Don't you think that, in a way, it shows that life is meaningless even when you work hard to give it a meaning or to change who you are ? Because we are all going to die, yet we are all like this bird.

But, on the other hand, life is the longest thing you ever do, so you might as well try and do something during it, and if you die after achieving your dreams, you can die happy.

I took off my headphones before the video was over the first time I saw it, so I didn't hear the thud at the end. So I guess you could take it to mean that if you're gonna commit suicide, you should do it in style and perhaps fulfill some of your dreams before it's over, like the people who go on a round-the-world trip and then blow their brains out.

This seems a bit nihilistic. May as well jump ...

Well, there's a difference between thinking that life is meaningless (survival + reproduction) and being depress and wanting to commit suicide. It's better to create the meaning of our own life (and be ourselves, maybe ? We could see that in the cartoon, he's trying to be like the other bird and end up dying because of that) than just decide to die but life is still something you have not chosen to experiment but was imposed on you.

I mean, comparing this video to autistic people... we could say that the kiwi is autisitc and would like to acquire the skills other human beings seems to have, it takes it all his lifespan and then he dies happy. It's a great thing and he's been truly inventive in to acquire this skill but in the end, it means nothing.

It's better to try to be happy (and not focusing on negative events for example or not give up) and try to reach ones goal but we should remember as well that everything dies and in the end, it means nothing. I see it as a neutral thing, really. Death is not a big deal and it's better, for me, to think that life does not have a real meaning unless you decide it has one because if it did have a determined meaning (other than reproduction and death), everyone would have to do the same thing.

So, I agree with Asp-Z, I did not want to deny the importance of creating a meaningful life for the time it lasts.



So I answer to you here : I think life is meaningless in itself, it has no meaning unless you give it one, therefore, our form of life gives it its meaning but by essence it does not have any. You know, philosophy is full of paradox. The meaning of life is given by living creatures but has none by itself.

Last edited by lostD on 02 Dec 2010, 3:19 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I didn't notice the thud at first. But regardless, the first time I watched it and second I had muted responses. The trees on the cliff were mildly amusing. When I figured out what he was trying to do I thought he was clever. When I watched it again to catch the thud then I thought that he was stupid to not think about landing.

I agree with the one son who said that it'd be funny if he hit a tree. Then it'd have reminded me of Wile E. Coyote. Maybe that's what the thud was?

If I wasn't originally viewing it as just be a silly cartoon then I'd say that it's very Nietzschean: living life to the fullest as you want it and then dying on your own terms rather than leaving it up to fate.

What do you expect should be an NT response and what would you expect to be an aspie response?

Last edited by theexternvoid on 02 Dec 2010, 1:02 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I thought it was cute and it made me feel something, but I didn't 'get it'.

*edit*
watched it again. I get it now.

Without getting into a thread hijacking, philosophically convoluted discussion, if life is meaningless, then no amount of 'creating you own meaning' can provide meaning. Once you assert that life is meaningless, there is no other possibility. Creating your own meaning contradicts the original assertion. Creating meaning in a meaningless universe is an exercise in self delusion.

I will leave it at that.

It was sad. It was moving that he worked so hard just to achieve the dream of flying. It wasn't that he was commuting suicide he just wanted to feel what it was like to truly fly and he did. It just shows that if you really want something and work hard at it it will happen for the most part.